CARLTON'S Brock McLean won't be targeted by his former Melbourne teammates on Friday night for fear of inspiring the midfielder.

McLean, 25, played his first game since round 10 last year on Friday night against Geelong and is in line to back up this week against the Demons.

It will be the first time McLean has played against the club he left at the end of 2009.

Melbourne midfielder Brent Moloney said the Demons wouldn't attempt to mentally rattle their former teammate as it could easily backfire.

"He's a pretty strong willed person, so that might [egg] him on a little bit to definitely play well, and he'll want to play well," Moloney said on Wednesday, ahead of the 'Olivia Live at the 'G' clash.

"We're not really focusing on him too much. We're focusing on the whole team and for myself, the whole midfield group, because they've got some great players in there.
 
"We've got a lot of respect for Brock McLean. He played a lot of good games for the footy club and was a leader of the footy club.

"We'll just go out there as if he's just another player, like he's playing in a Carlton guernsey. That's how we see it."

McLean had just 12 touches last week and struggled to adapt to the pace of the game, although coach Brett Ratten said it would be "fairly unfair" to drop him after one match.

New Blue Jeremy Laidler was in a similar position to McLean last week when he was faced with the prospect of lining up against former side Geelong. 

He had already faced the Cats in the NAB Challenge earlier this year, which eradicated some nerves, but said it was still a challenge to play against them on Friday night. 

"Quite a few of the boys tried to get stuck into me but I just sort of took it on the chin and it was good to play some good footy against them and I was spewing we didn't come away with the win," he said.

"We did do a lot of things right and we've got a lot to take away from it."

Laidler said he didn't think he would have to offer McLean advice on how best to face his old side.

"I'm sure he's mature enough to know how to go about things. He played some good footy last week and I'm sure he'll be alright," he said.

Ratten said on Tuesday he had spoken to first-year player Nick Duigan after he directed a stinging outburst towards Bret Thornton on Friday night after Tom Hawkins got away and kicked a goal.

Laidler said Duigan's passion was an asset but admitted the players had also spoken to him about the incident.

"He's had an exceptional year already and he's a pretty passionate guy, through and through, on and off the field," he said.

"We want him to stay with the way he plays his footy and keep playing good footy.

"We did speak about what he did and how it looks off the field, for all the media and stuff, so we did address it and probably nailed it on the head."

Laidler, 21, has already more than tripled the number of games he managed in two seasons at Geelong and has become a first-choice selection for the Blues' backline.

He said learning how to back himself was the secret behind his sudden rise to nine AFL games. 

"I played a lot of VFL down at Geelong and to get the opportunity and for them to have faith in me to play at the highest level has been great," he said.

"I suppose at the start I was trying to get to know all the boys and how they play, and as a backline, we're pretty tight down there now.

"There hasn't been many ins and outs, except for Simon White and Bret Thornton, but I suppose I've just been backing myself and trying to beat my direct opponent."